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We understand there’s a lot to think about when you’re planning your trip, so we’ve tried to make it as easy as possible to find all the answers you might need below. If you still can’t find what you’re looking for, get in touch.
Your therapy week will be personalized to suit your child’s needs, abilities, and goals, spanning 5 days from Monday to Friday with 2 aquatic and 1 land-based therapy session each day.
On the first day, you’ll have a meet and greet where we get to know you and your child a little better, talking about your goals as a parent and your child’s hopes, dreams and goals for themselves. We then dive into our first sessions, using them as an introduction to the week.
Although the weeks are intensive, we also make them fun and create a relaxed environment so your child can feel comfortable and fully engage in each session, getting the most out of our time together. When therapy feels like a game, it’s more motivating and the development happens more naturally. We often find our children don’t want to go home!
We also welcome you as a parent to ask questions and give you the knowledge and resources you need to keep making even more progress back home.
Once you’ve made your booking, we’ll ask you to fill in a form giving us a good overview of your child’s current abilities, needs, and goals so we can assign the therapist who’ll be the best fit.
We do this early on to help us plan our team schedule, so you have access to the right therapist or therapists at the right time.
8 weeks before your program, we begin the more in-depth planning. We’ll ask for more detailed information, covering all aspects of life from daily routines, information from consultants and about any existing therapy or programs you’re involved in, any carers you have, support requirements, and so on. We may also ask for reports from your home-based therapists or coaches to help us tailor make your program to target your specific needs at this moment in time.
Even if you’re a repeat client, we ask for this information, as your child’s abilities, needs, and goals will change in-between visits. We want to ensure we know where he or she is now, and what milestone we’re working towards on our way to their big goals.
The team will all be involved in creating your program, bringing together our combined expertise, but one of our Pediatric therapists will take the lead for your week and be your main point of contact should you have any questions at all.
We have a range of facilities and equipment available to us, enabling us to adapt the sessions to suit each and every child we work with.
Wherever possible, you’ll have the same therapist throughout your week with us. However, you may have one therapist for all your sessions or one for the land-based therapy, and another for the aqua-based therapy.
We allocate therapists best suited to your child’s needs and goals. That could mean that more than one team member will be involved in your therapy to make sure your child gets the most out of each session.
We’ll give you a program to continue using once you get back home, with fun therapy activities created using easy-to-find equipment from stores like Ikea and Walmart for a reasonable price.
During the week, we’ll explain everything we’re doing, giving you all the know-how and tools you need to continue making progress and pushing boundaries.
If you have more questions once you’re home, you can reach out to the lead therapist who’s been taking care of you and your program. We also love to get feedback on your progress, so we can join you in celebrating each milestone on the way to reaching your big goals.
We allocate the best therapist to suit your child’s current needs, abilities, and goals, which might change over time. You may have the same therapist each time you return, or you may work with a different team member.
However, all of our team make an effort to speak and get involved with your child when you’re with us, so they will likely be a familiar face. You’ll also have met all of our therapists as a parent during your time with us. We all collaborate to make sure your child benefits from our collective knowledge.
We never guarantee a specific team member for your sessions, but we can guarantee you’ll be in good hands.
Intensive therapy is intense, both in the results it brings and the effort involved. Although your child will be having a lot of fun, he or she will also need some downtime to rest. We schedule a break during your day and suggest you consider planning family days out before or after the week itself.
You’ll receive your final schedule one to two weeks before your week is due to start. Our weeks start on a Monday and run for 5 days, ending on Friday.
We’ll have a meet and greet on your first day, where we can get to know you and your child a little better, and talk more about your goals for the week and in general. We then dive into our first sessions, using them as an introduction to the week.
On each of the following days, you’ll have three sessions a day, two aquatic and one land-based therapy session. If you’ve booked Trexo, we’ll incorporate that into our land sessions.
The schedule is created to best fit all of the children we have on that week. If your child has special requirements, such as a feeding schedule or medication that must be taken at a specific time each day, we’ll work with you to accommodate that.
Please note we cannot accommodate nap times, only essential schedules like feeding and medication.
See an example 5 day schedule >
The first pool session each day is around 50 minutes coupled with an hour-long land-based session, although this may be adapted depending on goals and ability. There’s a break between giving you time to help your child change and give them a drink before we continue.
You’ll have a generous break before your third session of the day, which will be another hour in the pool.
The Lighthouse Pool Bar is on hand if you want to relax and grab a drink or snacks in the shade during your break.
See an example 1 day schedule >
Even though the minimum age to attend is 3, we expect your child to be able to manage the schedule and the sessions as per the examples.
Yes, of course. We intentionally create fun therapy activities using equipment that’s readily available from stores like Ikea and Walmart, so you can easily purchase it when you return home.
In this way, you can use the same activities you saw us using and will fully understand how to progress as your child’s ability improves.
We’ll give you a schedule of activities to try and stick to once you leave us, and look forward to hearing about the progress you make.
With the water supporting your child’s body weight, they can enjoy a sense of freedom and move in ways that just aren’t possible on land. We use fun, playful exercises to make the work feel easy, so development happens naturally, building strength, coordination, endurance, balance, range of motion and more.
As your child gains confidence in the water, we can start to transfer the skills they learn in the pool onto dry land. It’s wonderful to watch their self-esteem grow along with their ability.
Learning to control breathing in a pool is also massively beneficial in helping your child improve his or her breath control on land and for speech development.
Being in a beautiful outdoor pool in a sunny, relaxed environment feels much less intimidating than a typical medical center. Our children love coming to their therapy sessions, to the point where they often don’t want to leave again!
This really does vary from child to child, and the goals we’ve set together. We break your bigger goals down into smaller, achievable goals, which we can take step by step, celebrating with you along the way. However, we often see children on our intensive therapy weeks make more progress than you would typically expect in six to twelve months of conventional outpatient therapy.
This is because it takes a lot of repetition to learn a new skill or level of ability. Think about a baby trying to learn to self-feed or an adult trying to play golf; it takes hundreds of repetitions to learn how to get that hole-in-one!
Intensive therapy allows us to create those repetitions in a fun, supportive environment, where we can really focus our attention on reaching a specific goal or goals in a relatively short space of time.
Yes, absolutely; all sessions are one-to-one, so your child has the therapist’s full attention during their time together. All our sessions are tailored to help your child develop their abilities and work towards the goals we’ve set together.
Besides a comfortable swimming costume or swim shorts, UV swim vests are a great way to protect their skin from the sun. We also suggest large comfortable goggles to protect their eyes, with darker lenses for the sun if you can get some.
A swim cap is optional; some girls find it easier to keep their hair up and out of the way.
Rubber sandals or flip-flops are ideal for wearing around the pool. Although we provide towels, some parents bring hooded towels to pop on after sessions, which make it easy to get changed or even head home in.
A sun hat is also a good idea for time in between sessions and we advise you to use a high-factor sunscreen.
Drinks and snacks are available on site, but you may want to bring your own snacks if your child prefers something particular.
There are cafes and restaurants within 5 minutes’ walking distance if you want to head out in your break time.
It’s advisable to bring your walking appliances to the sessions. However, you can store them on-site with us if you don’t need to take them away again overnight to save carrying them back and forth each day.
On the very first day, we like to have a meet and greet to get to know you better before we begin.
We advise you to arrive at least 20 minutes before your first scheduled session with us so we can have a coffee and a chat, and you can ask any questions you might have for us.
We suggest one parent stays for the sessions. However, both parents can stay if you don’t have other children to look after.
Our goal is to share information, tips, and tools with you throughout the week so you feel empowered to help your child make even more progress when you go home. It’s a great opportunity to ask questions as they occur to you and meet other parents joining us.
Absolutely, we’re a team, working together to give your child the best support possible. We want you to leave the week feeling empowered to carry on using the information, tools, and fun therapy activities we’ve created to make even more progress. No question is too small or too big; ask anything you need during our time together.
We welcome you to be present on the side of the pool during the sessions so you can ask questions, chat with other parents and see the progress we’re making. There is no need for you to be in the pool at all.
We create the schedule to best support all children taking part in the week. Every child has a mix of morning and afternoon sessions to fairly distribute the time slots and make sure everyone has access to each facility, or equipment, like Trexo, as needed. We also plan rest time between your sessions, so he or she can get the most out of each one.
If your child has medical requirements like a feeding schedule or medication routine, we’ll work around that when allocating your time slots. It’s important that you give us these details when prompted in the forms you receive, so we understand what you need well ahead of time.
Once the schedule’s been sent out, we really can’t make any changes. It would have a knock-on effect on all the other children in the week, as well as the team’s schedule to prepare the equipment we need ahead of each session.
We understand that you’ll want to enjoy some holiday time outside of therapy. We also ask you to remember that the purpose of this trip is to give your child a chance to make big leaps forward with our training program. The planned sessions do need to be a priority during your week.
You’ll meet other parents and families during the week, as our therapists run multiple sessions at the same time. We often find that new friendships are made and families keep in touch long after they return home.
Whether your child is mobile or non-mobile, Trexo can be adapted to support and mobilize them. The robot is ideal for children with a variety of conditions including, but not limited to:
Parents of children who’ve used Trexo during our weeks have told us it’s been a game changer. Not only can the robot help improve muscle strength, coordination, alignment and help develop increased weight bearing, but parents also tell us it improves bowel movements (no more constipation), breathing and sleep patterns.
If your child can’t yet sit, roll or stand, Trexo can help them walk for the first time, which is guaranteed to put a smile on their face, using sensory stimulation to help build new neural pathways aiding development.
The robot’s also ideal if your child needs to improve their gait and or heel-toe striking, whether they walk with or without walking aids.
Trexo provides real-time feedback, and adjustments can be made instantly so we can make the most of your child’s time with the robot and also adapt future sessions on land and in the pool to make even more progress during our time together.
Our team specializes in making all of our therapy activities fun, including Trexo.
One of the big advantages of Trexo is that it allows your child to have experiences and explore places that would otherwise be off-limits to them. That might be anything from walking through the gardens to having a treasure hunt or playing ball games like tennis with a big soft ball. Having these experiences helps to keep them focused and motivated, wanting to do more without it feeling like work.
The robot can be fully adjusted to give your child the most comfort and support, working with the body’s natural range of movement. It might feel a bit strange at first, but they’ll soon get used to it and enjoy the sense of freedom it brings.
We recommend comfortable trousers, high-top trainers, and any orthotics, AFOs, or splints they normally wear. A sun hat may also be a good idea.
One of the main advantages of Trexo is that it opens up the world, and gives your child the opportunity to try games or explore areas that would normally be difficult for them to reach.
We may explore the gardens or have a treasure hunt there, play games like football, basketball or tennis with large, soft balls. We can go for ice cream; the possibilities are endless.
We choose activities based on what your child loves to do. As with all our therapy, we do our best to make it fun so they feel motivated to give 100% and it doesn’t feel like therapy. In our experience, that’s when we make the most progress.
Trexo is a robotic walker that supports your child, so they can experience walking, explore different places and take part in everyday activities which would normally be off-limits to them.
Trexo can be adjusted so he or she can initiate more or less of the movement themselves, and will set the exact pattern and speed of walking, depending on their ability.
What does that mean? If he or she is shuffling, we can teach them to lift their foot. We can adjust the pattern so they shorten or lengthen their steps, walk heel to toe, keep their feet straighter, and gently increase the amount of stretching over time, which feels fantastic for children who spend a lot of time sitting.
He or she will take far more steps than would be possible in any other kind of therapy, getting more repetitions and dynamic stretching to build stamina, flexibility, strength, and weight bearing. Many children see a significant improvement in their motor skills by the end of the week.
Trexo provides real-time feedback, and we can make adjustments instantly, so we can make the most of your child’s time with the robot and also adapt future sessions on land and in the pool to make even more progress by the end of the week.
Parents of children who’ve used Trexo during our weeks have told us it’s been a game changer. Not only can the robot help improve muscle strength, coordination, alignment and help develop increased weight bearing, but parents also tell us it improves bowel movements (no more constipation), breathing and sleep patterns.
If your child can’t yet sit, roll or stand, Trexo can help them walk for the first time, which is guaranteed to make the smile, using sensory stimulation to help build new neural pathways.
The robot’s also ideal if your child needs to improve their gait and or heel-toe striking, whether they walk with or without walking aids.
He or she will take far more steps than would be possible in any other kind of therapy, getting more repetitions and dynamic stretching to build stamina, flexibility, strength, and weight bearing. Many children see a significant improvement in their motor skills by the end of the week.
On the 4th of July each year, we release the dates for the following year. For example, in July 2023, we release the dates for 2024.
Weeks are released on the 4th of July each year, for the following year, and will book up fast.
However, if you missed that first chance to book, you can join the waiting list and you’ll be notified as soon as dates become available.
Once you reserve and pay for your week, you’ll receive a confirmation email from us which also advises about what happens next, what to bring, where to stay and so on. You’ll also be asked to let us know which areas of therapy you’d like us to focus on, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy and/or Speech Language Therapy.
You’ll then be given a more detailed registration form to complete, and asked to send videos or photos to demonstrate your child’s current abilities and skills, so we can match their needs to a dedicated therapist who’ll work closely with you both before and during your time with us.
Our methods can be adapted to help children with a wide range of neurological and developmental disorders, even where other professionals have been limited. We’re proud to have supported families and children with Cerebral Palsy, Dystrophies, down syndrome, ASD, and rare syndromes such as Mowat Wilson syndrome, PMS, 49XXXXY, stroke, cancer and meningitis.
We innovate to provide individualized treatment programs that inspire and empower your child to believe anything is possible and push past their limits, using a unique combination of aquatic and land-based therapy.
Our minimum age limit is 3 years old, however, we can support you before you join our week if your child is younger than this. Please contact us for more information.
It’s not unusual for a child to make more progress with us than they would in six to twelve months of conventional outpatient therapy. However, even though your child is likely to see a great improvement, making big changes to your child’s life is going to take time, patience and ongoing support.
We work closely with you, as well as any other therapists or consultants who may be supporting your child at home, to keep pushing to new levels of ability and beyond. We’ll give you activities and fun exercises to do when you go home, so you can reach your current goals.
When you come back for your next intensive therapy week, we’ll create a new treatment plan to help you push on to the next level, and the next, over time helping your child reach their full potential.
Our minimum age is 3 to attend the intensive training weeks, however, we can offer support before you come to us if your child is a little younger.
If you would like to find out more, please email us at:
The fee for our intensive therapy weeks is $2000 per week.
The fee includes all staffing and therapy sessions, equipment, access to facilities for the child we’re working with during our sessions, all pre and post-communication, planning, research, and activities to continue on with when you return home.
We have regular weeks at our base in Ponte Vedra Beach in Florida, and our European base in Lanzarote.
We do this early on to help us plan our team schedule so you have access to the right therapist or therapists at the right time.
We ask you for some quite detailed information as soon as you register to make sure we assign the best therapist to suit your child’s specific needs.
We will then contact you nearer the time for current information about your child’s abilities, requirements and goals, so we can plan your individual sessions in more detail.
Even if you’re a repeat client, it’s amazing how much can change in a short space of time so we need to learn about any progress you’ve made, find out if there have been any growth spurts or changes, if you have new goals and any other new information which may be relevant.
Things can change quickly, from growth spurts to ability and even changes to your goals.
It’s close enough to your week to be current and up-to-date but allows the time we need to do any additional research to ensure we give you the best possible support.
We may contact you for more information from your existing therapists or practitioners at home, all of which takes time to come through. We can then choose or create activities suited to your needs and put together your tailor-made schedule.
You know your child better than anyone. We include you in the planning process to make sure we support you as a family as well as give the best therapy solutions to help achieve your goals.
Please contact us straight away so we can give another family on the waiting list the chance to join a week. If you contact us more than 8 weeks in advance and have a medical certificate to show the reason you can’t travel or attend, we can discuss an alternative option for you.
If you have to cancel within 8 weeks of your start date, you will need to claim on your insurance, so we advise you to take out a policy that will cover you in case of cancellation.
If you can’t find the answer you’re looking for here, you’re welcome to contact us via the form below or via email at info@swimlabinternational.com
We don’t generally work with phone calls as the team are likely dedicating their time to ongoing therapy sessions, but if you drop us an email we can make sure you get the answers you need.
Please be advised that we do our best to respond within 5 working days, but do recommend you check the FAQ’s for a fast answer.
There is a hoist at the side of each pool to help your child enter if he or she needs it. Our therapists are also on hand to help lift your child in other areas should the need arise.
Yes, absolutely. We have a full disability access changing room for you to use throughout the week with us.
Yes, that’s no problem. We can keep them safe so they’re ready and waiting the following day.
Yes, we include time for breaks so you can refresh yourself and your child with drinks and snacks in between sessions.
We have vending machines as well as a variety of drinks and snacks available to purchase.
You can pay an additional fee to have lessons in tennis or swimming, which is ideal for siblings. However, it’s not possible to use the facilities outside of lessons.
It’s possible for your other children to have swimming or tennis lessons for an additional fee.
However, we ask you to remember that we work hard to keep your child focused and motivated throughout our sessions, so keeping siblings separate during our training is a good idea to avoid distractions.
Although it is possible to pay for your other children to have swimming lessons at the facility, these are separate to our training sessions. We don’t invite siblings to use the pool during our sessions to avoid distraction.
We can only cater to the children enrolled in our intensive therapy weeks.
Planet Swim offer swimming classes for children which may be available during your stay. You can contact them directly to inquire.
The facilities are designed for swimming and therapy activities rather than sunbathing, so there are no sunbeds available.
We encourage one parent to be present in the sessions with your child, so we can give you all the information and tools you need to continue making progress once you return home.
There are areas where you can sit in the shade or sun during our sessions.
Swim Lab International is based in Ponte Vedra Beach in Florida, at Planet Swim on Davis Park Road.
We recommend you stay close by, either in Ponte Vedra Beach or Jacksonville Beach.
Both locations are conveniently close to your therapy weeks and will also put you in a central location, close to the beach, restaurants, shops, and other holiday activities.
Swim Lab International does not arrange flights and accommodation. However, you’ll find plenty of options via sites such as Airbnb and booking.com in Ponte Verda Beach itself or Jacksonville Beach.
Domestic and International flights arrive daily, coming into Jacksonville International, Orlando or Tampa airports.
You’ll also find plenty of choices for car hire companies, including our favorite, Avis.
You’ll find it much easier to move around locally if you hire a car than use public transport. Avis offer hire cars for a competitive price and is the company we generally recommend.
For the pool, apart from a comfortable swimming costume or swimming shorts, UV swim vests are a great idea to protect your child’s skin from the sun. We also suggest large comfortable goggles to protect their eyes, with darker lenses for the sun if you can get some.
A swim cap is optional. Some girls find it easier to keep their hair up and out of the way.
Rubber sandals or flip-flops are ideal for wearing around the pool. As well as regular towels, some parents bring hooded towels to pop on after sessions which make it easy to get changed or even head home in.
A sun hat is also a good idea for time between sessions and we advise you to use a high-factor sun screen.
You can pick up water and snacks on-site, but you may want to bring your own snacks if your child has a preference for something particular.
For Trexo we recommend comfortable high-top trousers, high-top trainers, and any orthotics, AFOs, or splints they normally wear. A sun hat may also be a good idea.
We may use their walking aids during sessions. If you aren’t sure which to bring, please feel free to ask us.
For international travelers, it’s also a good idea to bring your blue disability badge as it’s valid here too and there is disabled parking right outside the center. You can take a photocopy of it to leave in the car at the airport, so you can bring your original here.
Of course, you can bring the whole family. It’s an ideal opportunity to enjoy downtime together, relax or explore the local area.
However, please remember that the therapy sessions during our week are a priority, and other activities should be planned around that schedule allowing time for rest in between.
We encourage you as a parent to be present for the sessions so we can share our knowledge. You and your children can use the pools and tennis courts for an additional fee, or have swimming or tennis lessons which can be ideal for siblings.
For those looking to make the most of your family time, it’s possible to incorporate some days at Disney World at the end of your holiday, as it’s only 2 hours away.
Although you’re unlikely to have any problems, we understand that you might want some reassurance, just in case the unexpected happens. We’re always on hand to support you during the week if you have any problems or need help.
You’re also very close to the Wolfson Children’s Hospital, and there are numerous other hospitals and clinics open 24 hours in the area.
In case the unexpected happens, you’re close to numerous hospitals and clinics open 24 hours a day. You’re also close to the Wolfson Children’s hospital and Baptist Medical Center, which are both in Jacksonville and have “quick care” facilities.
